White House Pulls Freddie Mac Nomination

Washington -- The White House has withdrawn its nomination of Mark Brickell -- a former lobbyist at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. -- to head the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the regulator to mortgage concerns Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The scuttled nomination is the latest in a series of mishaps to impact OFHEO and its troubled charge, Freddie Mac. Virginia-based Freddie Mac has admitted to understating its financials by as much as $5 billion, while several top executives have subsequently been ousted from the company. It has also been fined $125 million by OFHEO.

Last year, the White House asked OFHEO director Armando Falcon Jr. to resign. Falcon’s term end this fall. Meanwhile, the maelstrom at Freddie Mac has prompted discussions to allow both it and Fannie Mae to come under the purview of the Treasury Dept.